Portable apparatus for body protection in enclosed wearing apparel



Sept. 19, 1961 v. STARK 3,000,191

PORTABLE APPARATUS FOR BODY PROTECTION IN ENCLOSED WEARING APPAREL FiledNov. 14, 1960 -2 Sheets-Sheet 1 PH 2 JP-a m ii? I l l ll I 1 I I I I I1% 2 1 I I I 2 l l l v I l I I l l 1 1 1 I20 I 25 5 l2o '2 3L 214 21 222s 7 2 3 2 289 'm 280 I3 l 2 l 2s 35 29 Y 'F 2 33 I i v 36c 36 34 340 3|as 3o 4 FIGJ.

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INVENTOR 2| Virgil Stork MM, 0M ,5 M 4 ATTORNEY Sept. 19, 1961 v. STARK3,000,191

PORTABLE APPARATUS FOR BODY PROTECTION IN ENCLOSED WEARING APPAREL FiledNov. 14, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Virgil Stark ATTORNEY UnitedStates Fatent 3,000,191 PORTABLE APPARATUS FOR BODY PROTECTION INENCLOSED WEARING APPAREL Virgil Stark, 405 Lexington Ave., New York,N.Y. Filed Nov. 14, 1960, Ser. No. 69,066 14 Claims. (Cl. 62-259) Thegeneral object of the present invention is to provide an improvedcooling apparatus for use with apparel of the type disclosed in StarkPatent No. 2,731,808, and in Stark pending application for Apparatus andWearing Apparel for Body Refrigeration, Serial No. 827,349, filed July15, 1939. The prior inventions as well as the present invention,disclose and claim a device for the protection of the wearers person,especially in high temperature and/or high humidity, by means ofself-contained air conditioner units comprising refrigerant storagechambers and air passages associated therewith communicating with theinterior of an insulating garment, spaced from the body, allowing aninterior ambiance of comfort around the body.

In the prior devices the hot air from the ambiance outside the garmentwas permitted to enter into the space around the body and inside theinsulated garment, the air around the body being cooled by one or morerefrigerating apparatuses with finned containers filled with replaceablecharges of refrigerant.

When the ambient atmosphere is contaminated by dangerous or toxic gasesor fumes or radioactive particles, the suit has to be air tight and noadmission of outside air is permissible. In other cases, such as highatmospheric temperatures of over 150 F., it is desirable that little orno air from outside is introduced in the space around the body.

The human body, through metabolism generates heat and produces watervapor by perspiration and respiration. It also consumes oxygen andeliminates carbon dioxide through breathing. The quantity of carbondioxide and water eliminated varies from person to person and dependslargely on the exercise and type of work being performed.

In a totally sealed or almost closed ambiance of a protective suit, thefollowing problems have to be solved:

(a) The carbon dioxide content inside the protective garment must becontrolled.

The carbon dioxide produced by exhalation, depending on the person andtype of work, ranges from approximately 25 grams per hour toapproximately 200 grams per hour. In a closed ambiance it accumulatesand the concentration increases with time. Experiments made with aclosed garment on -a person Working at a rate of 120 watts, show thatthe concentration of carbon dioxide inside the garment reachesapproximately 4.7% in about 25 minutes. As the oxygen is consumed byinhalation, the air inhaled soon becomes deficient in oxygen. If theconcentration of carbon dioxide in a closed ambiance is over 3.5%,discomfort will result and severe distress results if such concentrationexceeds Death may result with a prolonged exposure to carbon dioxide toover The carbon dioxide produced in excess of the allowableconcentration (approximately 2%) must be eliminated or additional air oroxygen must be provided in the enclosed ambiance so as to reduce thecarbon dioxide concentration and supply sufiicient oxygen for normalbreathing.

(12) Air or oxygen must be supplied.

If the air is consum d by breathing from an enclosed ambiance,additional air or oxygen has to be provided in time to compensate forsuch consumption. The volume of air required depends on the person, thetype and severity of work being done, and may vary from approxiicemately 5 cubic feet per hour to approximately 25 cubic feet per hour.

(0) The heat and moisture produced must be absorbed or eliminated.

The heat produced by the human body in an enclosed garment results in anincrease in temperature of the enclosed ambiance, and above a certaintemperature it also results in an increased production of perspiration.If the ambiance reaches a temperature higher than the skin temperature(93 F.), and is totally saturated with water vapor, then the body cannotdissipate the heat produced and discomfort, and eventually death mayresult.

It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved coolingunit which will cool the air in the space between the body and thegarment and supply a quantity of oxygen thereto either in the form ofpure oxygen or' of air.

It is a further object of this invention to remove water vapor from theambiance surrounding the body Within an insulating suit.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide means forremoving carbon dioxide from the ambiance within the protective suit.

The various features of novelty which characterize this invention arepointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming partof this specification. For a better understanding of the invention, itsadvantages and specific objects obtained with its use, reference shouldbe had to the drawings and descriptive matter in which have beenillustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention.

. In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a rear elevational view of the invention partially insection.

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a similar view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view of the invention partially in sectionshowing a fragmentary view of the wearer.

FIG. 5 is a partial vertical sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG.4.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the air inlet device shown in FIG. 5.

The refrigerating apparatus is located inside the insulating garment(not shown) and is supported on the body, either on the front or on theback of the wearer and is therefore completely portable, and is notconnected by means of any flexible hose to an outside source of airpressure.

This refrigerating device comprises a body portion 10 having aninsulation 9 on its inner surfaces, shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. \Attached tothe outside of this body portion 10 are two cylinders 11, 11 for holdingcompressed gas. The bottom of each cylinder has valves 12a and pressureregulators 12, attached thereto and conduits 13, 13, leading from thesevalves to a common manifold '14 located within the bottom of the bodyportion 10. The body portion has a refrigerating unit 15 therein. Thisunit contains a quantity of refrigerant 16, as shown in FIG. 2, andcomprises a front wall 17 having the fins =18 thereon and a back Wall 19having the fins 20 thereon. The front and back walls are joined by thesidewalls 21, 21 and have a bottom wall 22 and a top wall 23 with ahandle 24 attached thereto. This refrigerating unit 15 with itsrefrigerant 16 is removable and is retained in the body portion by theabutments 25, 25, as shown in FIG. 1. Below this refrigerating unit 15is a bafile 26 having perforations '27, 27 therein to allow the flow ofair therethrough and to cause the air to flow downwardly over themoisture adsorbent material 28, 28, retained in the lower part of thebody portion 10. Removable side plates 28a, 28a are mounted on the sideof the body portion to allow access to this moisture adsorbent material.This'adsorbent material retains the condensed moisture flowing from thebottom of the fins 18 and 20 and prevents it from entering the lowerdistribution well 29, axially attached to the bottom of the body portion10. An air exhaust conduit 30 in the form of a truncated cone isattached to one side of the distribution well and delivers the air tothe conduit 31 through the restricted venturi opening 32. The conduit 31delivers the air under pressure to the flexible conduit 33 fordistribution within the clothing of the wearer. The manifold 14 deliversthe air under pressure to the conduit '34 terminating in a nozzle 34::within the venturi opening 32 so as to form a positive means of drawingthe air around the cooling fins .18 and 20 through the baffle 26, andforces the air into the flexible conduit 33. On the other side of thedistribution well 29 is located a similar conduit 35 having a source ofcompressed air 36, having a nozzle 36a at the end thereof which forcesthe air under pressure through the container 37 and through the conduit38 located in the bottom thereof. The container 37 contains a quantityof carbon dioxide adsorbent and is retained within the container 37 bymeans of the perforated bafiie 40. Attached to the bottom of thedistribution well 29 is a conduit 44 for the removal of any watercondensed by the fins and not retained by the adsorbent 28.

While in the above description the cylinders 11, 11 are described ascontaining air under pressure, which may be in the neighborhood of 3,000lbs. per square inch gauge, and are reduced by the reducing valves 12,12, so as to deliver air under pressure of 2 to 40 lbs. per square inchgauge, these cylinders may contain oxygen or a mixture of air andoxygen.

The combination of the venturi opening with the compressed air nozzletherein combines to make a positive compression ejector which combinesthe air drawn over the cooling fins with the w obtained from thecylinders, which air from the cylinders is subjected to cooling due tothe expansion of the gas.

The refrigerating unit is of a removable type and contains a refrigerantof the type described in the prior Stark application, referred to above,and is placed within the body portion 10. The air cylinders contain gasunder pressure of up to 3,000 lbs. per square inch and reducing valveswhich reduce this pressure to within the neighborhood of 2 to 40 lbs.per square inch gauge. The size of the nozzle orifices 34a and 36a andthe nozzle gas pressure will determine the air volume and its pressurewithin the conduits 33 and 38 which may range up to 10 inches watercolumn by using the proper orifice such as #50 corresponding to anorifice diameter of 0.070 inch, to #80 corresponding to an orificediameter of 0.0135 inch.

The air is cooled by flowing over the surface of the refrigerating unitto approximately 35 F. to 50 F. This air is circulated through the suitand is warmed to approximately 80 F. It is then cooled again andrecirculated due to the pressure produced in the venturi nozzle. Byproperly regulating the s ze of the nozzle, circulation of air withinthe closed garment up to 600 cubic feet per hour, is obtained. Thiscirculation may vary by varying the size of the nozzle so as to obtainthe most desirable conditions within the suit. If the volume of nozzlegas introduced corresponds to the air consumed for breathing, forinstance, 12 cubic feet per hour, a compressor jet, producing a 1 to 50ratio of nozzle gas to jet gas will cause 600 cubic feet per hour of jetgas. A higher ratio of nozzle gas to jet gas can be obtained by theproper selection of nozzle and gas pressure. The higher the ratio, thelower be outlet pressure of the jet gas. By jet gas is meant the gasflowing through the conduit 33, and by nozzle gas is meant the gasflowing from the nozzle. 34a.

While in the above description the cylinders 11, 11

contain either air or oxygen under pressure, these cylinders may bereplaced by containers of a double wall form, having liquid air oroxygen therein and retain this material under very low temperature andunder a pressure preferably in the neighborhood of 50 lbs. per squareinch. The liquid air or oxygen is allowed to evaporate gradually to anappropriate heat exchanger to produce air or oxygen needed at therequired pressure. A small volume of liquid air or oxygen in thecontainer will produce a large quantity of gas at standard temperatureand pressure conditions. These containers are, of course, removable andcan be refilled vwth liquid air or oxygen from a proper outsideinstallation.

The carbon dioxide adsorbent '39 may be a material which removes carbondioxide by chemical reaction, such as soda lime, or by adsorption suchas activated carbon, molecular sieves, and other similar adsorbents.

When an impervious type garment is used a slight positive pressure inthe garment will result from the use of the cooling device hereindescribed and a back pressure valve system, similar to the oneincorporated in oxygen masks may be provided in the garment so as toeliminate from time to time excess gas resulting from the pressureexceeding the pressure set on the back pressure valve. The air or oxygenunder pressure will not only replace the air consumed by breathing butalso the kinetic energy stored in the compressed or liquified air oroxygen will be used as a source of energy in the compressor jet forcirculating the air under a positive pressure and this is combined withthe refrigerating unit placed inside the garment which will allow thecirculation of the cooled dehydrated air within the garment, and it willalso provide the necessary pressure to purify such air by removingtherefrom the carbon dioxide generated within the garment.

If an air-tight garment is not required for a particular application andthe introduction of a proportioned amount of outside air is permissible,a device such as is shown in FIG. 4 may be used. This device comprises amain body portion 42 having a refrigerating unit 43 contained therein.This unit has fins 44 on the back thereof and fins 45 on the frontthereof. This is placed within the clothing through the opening 46 whichis sealed by means of the zipper 47, shown in FIG. 4. An air inletdevice 48 comprises an air inlet 49 leading to a manifold 50 and havinga back plate 51 thereon. This device is placed across the top of therefrigerating unit so that the air manifold 50 covers the top of theopenings between the fins 44 and allows the incoming air through the airinlet 49 to flow through the manifold 50 and across the fins 44 in theback of the refrigerating unit. The fins 45 in the front of therefrigerating unit cool and recirculate the air within the garment sothat the air from the outside is taken in through the air inlet 49,flows across the back of the refrigerating unit and joins the airrecirculated across the front of the refrigerating unit and is thencirculated by compression means either as shown on FIG. 1 by Venturijets 32, truncated cone 30 and conduit 31 or as shown on FIG. 4 by fan52 driven by electric motor 53 shown at the bottom of the body portion.

The fresh air allowed thus to enter will provide not only theadditionalair for breathing but also will reduce the concentration of carbondioxide, especially for persons when working, possibly eliminating theneed of a carbon dioxide purifier. Experiments have shown that withoutadditional air or without purification of carbon dioxide, the carbondioxide concentration in a closed but not air-tight garment can increaseabove the allowable limits. I

in certain cases of high ambient temperatures where the admission ofvery warm outside air is limited, it may i be required to combine bothsolutions, that is, introduce a small quantity of outside air andprovide additional air or oxygen under pressure from one ormorecontainers spanner combined with compressor ejectors as above shown. Inthis way it will be possible to either extend the time betweenreplacement of air containers and/or reduce the number and/or size ofsuch air containers.

While in accordance with the provisions of the statute there has beenillustrated and described the best form of embodiment of this inventionnow known, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changesmay be made in the form of the apparatus disclosed without departingfrom the spirit of this invention as set forth in the appended claims,and that in some cases certain features of this invention may be used toadvantage without a corresponding use of other features.

What is claimed is:

1. A refrigerating apparatus, comprising a casing having an insulatedfront and back wall, side walls and a distribution Well in the bottomthereof, a refrigerating unit comprising a refrigerant sealed in acasing having metallic fins on the front and back walls thereof whichwill be received by and held in position in the top part of saidrefrigerating apparatus, at least one source of gas under pressureattached to the external part of said refiigerating apparatus, a conduitfrom said gas receptacle to the interior part of said distribution wellterminating in a nozzle of a venturi jet compressor in the side of saiddistribution well delivering gas under pressure to said nozzle,distributing the aspired and compressed cool dry air from said venturijet compressor through a flexible conduit, and means located within thebottom of said apparatus for removing condensed moisture from the airstream.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, having a second venturi jetcompressor, a conduit connected to the source of gas under pressureterminating in a nozzle within said second venturi, a conduit from saidventuri to a container having carbon dioxide adsorbent therein, andmeans for distributing air from said container.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said gas under pressureis 4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said gas underpressure is oxygen.

5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said gas is liquidair under pressure.

6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said gas is liquidoxygen under pressure.

7. An apparatus for cooling the ambient air within a heat insulatingbody covering, comprising; a cooling apparatus having insulated frontand back walls, side walls, and a distribution well in the bottomthereof with means for producing a forced circulation of gas therefrom,a cooling unit within said apparatus having a refrigerant within acontainer, said container having metallic fins on the front and backthereof, said fins being in heat conducting relationship with saidcontainer, an air inlet device connected through the body covering tothe ambient air by means of a flexible conduit and having a manifoldacross the top thereof to be received by and held in position across thetop of one side of said refrigerating unit, a plate attached to said airinlet device insertable in said unit to retain said air inlet device inposition, whereby the ambient air is cooled by the back of said coolingunit and the internal air is cooled by the front of said cooling unit.

8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the circulation of thecooled air is accomplished by means of one or more gas receptaclescontaining compressed gas connected by conduits to a nozzle of a venturijet compressor delivering gas to the nozzle of said jet compressor underpressure.

9. An apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein said gas under pressureis air.

10. An apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein said gas under pressureis oxygen.

11. An apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein said gas is liquidoxygen under pressure.

12. An apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein said gas is liquid airunder pressure.

13. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein there is a pressureregulating valve between the said source of gas under pressure and saidconduit which will deliver said gas to said nozzle at a pressure withinthe range of 2 to 40 pounds per square inch gauge, said nozzle beingvariable in size from about #50 to #80, which will change the ratio ofgas volume passing through said nozzle to the volume of air compressedthrough said venturi jet compressor in a range of from 1 to 5 to 1 to100, said air having an outlet pressure ranging from 0.5 to about 10inches water column.

14. A refrigerating apparatus, comprising a casing having an insulatedfront and back wall, side walls and a distribution well in the bottomthereof, a refrigerating unit comprising a refrigerant sealed in acasing having metallic fins on the front and back walls thereof whichwill be received by and held in position in the top part of saidrefrigerating apparatus, an air inlet device placed across the top ofthe said refrigerating unit which allows the introduction of outside airbetween the fins of said refrigerating unit, at least one source of gasunder pressure attached to the external part of said refrigeratingapparatus, a conduit from said gas receptacle to the interior part ofsaid distribution well terminating in a nozzle of a venturi jetcompressor in the side of said distribution well delivering gas underpressure to said nozzle, distributing the aspired and compressed cooldry air from said venturi jet compressor through a flexible conduit, andmeans located within the bottom of said apparatus for removing condensedmoisture from the air stream.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

